This is my first Reboot story, and it takes place after Bob returns to Mainframe. I haven�t been able to watch any episodes after Season 2 because I don�t get cable, so if I get any details wrong, oh well. I would appreciate any input you might have.
"All right, let�s Reboot!"
Bob and Dot double tapped their insignias. As the green light faded, Bob glanced at Dot. She looked so beautiful... she had rebooted into a revealing purple jumpsuit, her normally short hair was long, braided and hanging down her bare back, and, for a final touch, a pair of pure white wings adorned her back, making her ever more radiant...
"Ahem."
Bob was brought back to reality as Dot cleared her throat. "Okay, what attributes do we have?," she asked. "Oh, uh, let�s see..." Bob blushed as he activated Glitch. "You have physic powers and the ability to fly, while I have can become invisible and shoot lasers from my eyes." Glancing down, he saw that he was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with silver trimmings, not much different from his guardian uniform.
Once more, time seemed to stop, but this time it wasn�t because of Dot. Bob sensed a presence... something completely unfamiliar, and utterly evil.
Bob blinked and shook the feeling off as he noticed Dot looking at him. He merely dismissed the feeling as just a stray thought, nothing more than a strange notion.
"Hmmmm, I haven�t seen this game before. Let�s see... we have to reach the center of the city before the user does. If he gets there first, it�s game over."
"Sounds simple, " Dot said, lifting gently into the air as she tested her wings..
Bob gazed over the landscape. They appeared to be in a large crater with a lake at its center. The two of them were standing on a high cliff, jutting far over the large lake. The city shimmered with light on the other side.
Bob brought his gaze back to Dot. She looked so stunning, yet so fragile, as she floated gracefully upward, a breeze slightly ruffling her hair...
Without warning, Dot cried out as she was hit in her stomach by an energy beam and was hurtled onto a rock face. She lay still. Smoke drifted up from the burn on her abdomen. Bob spun around to see who or what had shot the blast.
What he saw was so absolutely and wholly terrifying, it was almost beyond words. The thing Bob saw was almost like a sprite infected by a web virus, yet so twisted it hardly seemed human. However distorted, Bob could tell that the thing had once been female. He could not be sure it was anymore. What was really and totally frightening was that it�s face - if one could call it a face - kept changing. One nano it would seem to be totally strange and unrecognizable, the next it would look like someone he loved, like Dot, or Matrix. Or it would become someone he truly hated, something with the face of Megabyte.
In the span of a few nanos, the thing lashed to grab Dot. She looked small in its grasp as it picked up her limp form. Bob seemed to be frozen in place, with surprise, with fear for Dot, and fear for himself.
Bob watched in horror as the thing held Dot high over its head. Then, almost as if in slow motion, it casually threw her over the cliff. It looked back at Bob, with a evil smirk on its misshapen face.
"Nooooooo!," Bob screamed as Dot plunged over the edge of the cliff. He gave once last glance at the thing, but it was gone.
Bob sprang to cliff edge as he heard a splash below, but he saw no sign of Dot. Only a ripple revealed something hidden far beneath the surface.
He took a deep breath, then dove in.
Bob hit the water with a loud splash. It was extremely cold. The lifeless chill seemed to dominate all his physical senses. But not his emotional ones.
The same thoughts kept running through his head:
I don�t know what I�ll do without you... Why couldn�t I do anything?! It was like my legs were frozen... My life will be pointless and meaningless without you...
Bob swum deeper; his lungs were about to burst when he glimpsed something white. He swam toward it, scooped up Dot in arms, and sped upwards.
He broke the surface with a loud gasp. Then, cradeling Dot in his arms, he swum to shore.
Bob gently laid Dot down on the beach. Taking her hand, he checked for a pulse. There was none. Her body was already growing cold.
"Aaaaahhhhhhh!" Bob screamed in grief and agony as he realized the only one person he ever had truly loved was gone forever from his life. He fell to his knees. His body shook with sobs.
When the tears were gone, Bob knew what he had to do.
He pulled his gun from his holster.
Before he pointed the gun to his heart and pulled the trigger, Bob gave Dot one last kiss, stroked her dark hair with his hand.
With a loud shot, his body fell down in the sand next to Dot�s. Energy, silver and translucent, tainted the sand, spreading out from the Guardian�s body...
"Game over. User wins." The System Administrator voiced. "Game over. User wins."
Bob woke up with start. He was drenched in cold sweat.
He felt Dot stir beside him. Bob sat up and put his head in his hands, thinking.
The same nightmare, five seconds in a row. Ever since I proposed to Dot.
As he got up, Dot felt the movement in her sleep and awoke. "What�s wrong?," she asked.
"I had the dream again."
"That nightmare? Where I...," Dot trailed off, afraid to finish the sentence.
Bob nodded as he sat heavily back down on the edge of their bed. Dot slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "If it disturbs you so much, we can go talk to Phong about it in the morning. Now, come back to bed." "Oh, all right," Bob sighed as Dot pulled him back down, her arms still encircling him.
As soon as Dot�s breathing slowed, Bob gently removed himself from Dot�s embrace and got up out of bed once again. His questions and concerns could not simply wait until morning.
Carefully, as not to wake the sleeping figure in the bed, Bob dressed and hopped on his zip board, but not before kissing Dot softly on her cheek.
He flew silently through the night air toward the principal office, worry etched onto his face, and a thousand questions on his mind.